Panel board neutral bar



June 23, 1953 w. ROBERTSON Erm. 2,643,363

v PANEL BOARD NEUTRAL BAR Original Filed Aug. 6, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 23, 1953 w. RoBERTsQN ETAL 2,643,363

PANEL BOARD NEUTRAL BAR Original Filed Aug. 6, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORJ` Fifz BY WW www Patented .une 23.195,3

William Robertson and Louis W. Higgins, Detroit, Mich., assignors to BullDog Electric Products Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation Aof West Virginia Original application August `(i, `19478, Serial No. 42,974. Divided and this application April`21, 1949, Serial No. 89,902

1 Claim.

This application relates to panel boards and particularly to neutral constructions an-d mounting plates of panel boards, and is a divisional of the parent application, Ser. No. 42,974, led August 6, 1948, now Pat. No. 2,511,995, issued June 20, 1950.

It is a particular object of the present invention to provide a neutral construction for panel boards characterized by the provision of a housing around a neutral bar and by the provision of a suitable grounding and sealing means around a stud which clamps the neutral bar and housing in place and securely with respect to a panel board.

It is a still further object to provide a novel housed neutral bar construction.

It is a still further object to provide a construction employing a single stud for securing a housing, a neutral bar, and a mounting plate for the panel board units in place.

Still further objects of the present' invention will be understood by those skilled in the art upon reference to the appended drawings.

In these drawings:

Fig. l is a iront view of one form of panel board with a housed neutral construction shown at the cut away lower part of the gure.

Fig. 2 is a right side View with parts cut away for purposes of clarity.

Figs. 3 and 4 are section views as if on lines 3 3 and 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. is a perspective exploded view of the housed neutral construction of Figs. 1-4.

Figs. 1-5 show a panelboard having studs 90 whose ends 9| are secured, as by welding, to the back 92 of the panelboard box. The lower stud 99 passes through an insulation housing 94 and through a center hole 96 of a neutral bar or tube 99. The latter has numerous pairs of transversely alined holes |02 and numerous binding screws |04 for the branch wire terminals.

A large opening |05 in one side of the housing 94 enables the numerous branch wire terminals to enter holes |02 of the bar 98. 'Ihe opposite side of the housing has a large hole |06 to permit a wire terminal to enter bar 98 from the opposite side as well, but only, as shown, at the end of the bar.

An insulating nut |01 passes down over the upper end of the stud 90 and threads down onto it. This nut has a reduced portion |08, dened by a shoulder |09, which passes through the neutral bar 98 to insulate the latter from the stud 90 and thus to hold the neutral bar 98 and the housing 94 in assembly, shoulder |09 sealing to and engaging the bar 98. Sliding lateral clearance, however, is provided between the portion |09 and the hole 96 of the neutral bar. The lower end of the nut |01 engages and seals to the oor or bottom l0 of the housing 94 to form a tight seal and complete insulation barrier between the stud and the neutral bar 98. The sliding clearance between the portion |08 of the nut |01 and the hole 96 of the neutral bar 98 enables the latter to float on the stud 90. but the barrier between the stud and the neutral bar is complete and sealed by the tight seal at the lower end of the nut |01, and that provided by the engagement of shoulder |99 with bar 98.

The end ones of the alined transverse holes |02 are slightly enlarged as indicated at the left of the neutral bar to receive and bind the neutral wire terminal which may enter thru either opposite side openings |05-|0B. The other binding posts and their holes |02 bind and receive the branch wire terminals which enter thru opening |05.

At the right end of the neutral bar is a large tapped hole ||2 alined with a clear hole ||3 in the floor ||0 of housing 94 and through which may be passed a screw ||4 to engage the back of the metal box for grounding the neutral bar to the back of the box, as desired.

Above the nut |01 projects an end of the stud 90 which may be utilized to clamp, as by means of a nut |20, one end of a mounting plate or backbone |22 to which are secured branch circuit control units |26 whereby the same stud that mounts the neutral bar 98 and its housing 94 also helps mount the backbone |22 and the branch circuit control units |26. (See studs 18 of Patent No. 2,428,322 of September 30, 1947.)

The other end of plate |22 is mounted by identical means 90-9|-|20, as shown, there, however, being no housing 94, neutral bar 98, or nut |01 on the upper stud 90.

Now having described the panelboard herein disclosed reference should be had to the claim which follows for a determination of the inventions hereof.

We claim:

In a panelboard mounted within a box, a housing Within said box and of insulating material, a neutral bar disposed within said housing and insulated thereby from said box, a stud extending from the rear wall of said box and passing through an opening in said housing and said neutral bar, the opening in said neutral bar being of a diameter greater than that of said stud. said stud having length sufficient both to pass through said neutral bar and said housing and also to pass through and thus secure a mounting plate for individual panel units, a shouldered insulating nut tting over said stud, the depending reduced portion of such nut extending into the opening of said housing between the inside diameter of said opening and the outside diameter of said stud and downwardly below the inside oor of said housing so as to seal off and insulate said neutral bar from said stud, the shoulder of said insulating nut securing said neutral bar within said housing and also securing said neutral bar and said housing in like manner rigidly against the rear wall of said box.

WILLIAM ROBERTSON. LOUIS W. HIGGINS.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 5 789,433 1,930,028 1,992,056 2,145,041 2,431,999 10 2,438,025

Number Name Date King May 9, 1905 Adam Oct. 10, 1933 Colbie Feb. 19, 1935 Childers Jan. 24, 1939 Engelhardt Dec. 2, 1947 Taliaferro Mar. 16, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date England July 2, 1920 England June 4, 1924 

